History

Allison
Crowe began performing professionally in 1996, at age 15, doing
regular sets in the coffee-houses and bars of Vancouver
Island. Crowe's recording debut came in 2001, with
an EP subsequently reissued (in 2003) as Lisa’s Song + 6 Songs. Her first
full-length albums, Secrets and Tidings, were released in 2004, when Crowe was
22. (Tidings was originally
released in EP form in 2003.) Allison Crowe: Live at Wood Hall, a double concert
album, was released in July 2005. A DVD
featuring live-in-the-studio performances of Tidings songs
was created for her fan club in November 2005.

Crowe’s most mentioned characteristics are her remarkable live
performance ability and her distinctive voice, the natural force of which has been
compared to that of Mahalia Jackson.
"With the soul of Janis Joplin and the
tenderness of fellow Canuck Sarah
McLachlan, Crowe rocks with her own unique brand of roots
charm." (David McPherson, Exclaim!, October 5, 2004). She accompanies
herself on guitar and the piano, on which she has been classically trained. Her
physical, percussive, piano style has been likened to that of
R&B and rock
and roll pioneers such as Fats
Domino. She is largely a solo
performer, though she has been part of bands as well, notably in a trio format as the
Allison Crowe Band (2000 to 2003). Her passionate, visceral style
has been referred to as “Elton John meets
Édith Piaf” (Clodagh O’Connell,
Vancouver Courier, May
23, 2001).

Crowe mostly performs her own songs, which she
has been quoted as saying vary among rock, jazz and folk, with lyrics and an
intensity that has been compared to that of Laura Nyro, Eddie
Vedder, Tori Amos and Patti Smith. "Ever wonder what it would have
been like to listen to a gifted singer/songwriter from Saskatchewan
in a small, intimate hall before she became Joni Mitchell? Don't
fret the missed opportunity. There's no need to turn back the
clock. Check out Allison Crowe," says Robert Reid in The
Record.

Crowe has toured across Canada and in the northeastern United
States as headliner. Two one-hour television specials have been broadcast across
Canada, with her Allison Crowe: Tidings special telecast
each December since 2003.

Following the release of This
Little Bird, Allison Crowe visited England, Ireland, and
Scotland on a concert tour. In 2007 Crowe's touring included a series of
concerts across North America and a return to Europe where she
performed to great acclaim at the John Lennon Northern Lights
Festival in Durness,
Scotland. The event was subsequently crowned the "UK's Best
New Festival".

Allison Crowe, Trinity College,
Dublin

Piano, guitar and lead vocal tracks for two albums were recorded by
Allison Crowe throughout 2007 and early 2008. One release, with the
working title of Aquarius Rising, is anticipated to
include expanded instrumentation and orchestration. In May 2008
Crowe released an eclectic, acoustic, song collection called
Little Light.

Allison Crowe in concert, NYC

In May 2009 she was prevented from performing in Edinburgh,
Scotland and London, England after being turned away by British
officials at Gatwick Airport for not having a "Certificate of
Sponsorship". This requirement of a controversial new
"anti-terrorism" and "illegal immigration" policy in the UK is not
shared by countries of continental Europe and Crowe's tour with her
band resumed days later in Germany.

Crowe's touring band, her first since 2003, comprises Billie Woods
on guitar, Dave Baird on bass, and Laurent Boucher on percussion.
This quartet has toured Canada's Pacific and Atlantic coasts, as
well as continental Europe.

Following
a string of successful concert performances in Germany, the
Czech
Republic, and
Austria, Allison
Crowe returned home to Canada and during the Summer of 2009
selected songs for a new album to be titled Spiral.
Some of this collection comprises never-heard songs from
Aquarius Rising (those for which orchestration was not
found in 2007), along with new originals and cover songs.

Discography

After learning how the mainstream recording industry operates, in
2003, inspired by the examples of Ani
DiFranco and Loreena
McKennitt, and Creative Commons
licensing opening new avenues for musicians, Allison Crowe launched
her own record label, Rubenesque Records Ltd. She has released the
following albums independently.

Cover Songs

Acclaimed
as a songwriter and live performer, Allison Crowe's reputation and
audience worldwide is also based significantly on her
intrepetations of songs in the popular music canon alongside
classical and traditional works, and songs from musical theatre,
especially Broadway.

This unique aspect of Crowe's artistry, combining original material
with a range of covers to equal praise and draw, has been commented
upon extensively in print and broadcast media, including a November
2008 BBC radio documentary, "The Fourth, The
Fifth, The Minor Fall". Her interpretations of Leonard Cohen songs have received particular
recognition in features by BBC Radio and
MOJO magazine. Crowe's single/first
take recording of Hallelujah was slated
to be the soundtrack to a quirky scene in the 2009 Hollywood
blockbuster, Watchmen, before being
replaced by a Cohen recording. "I originally had a different
version of 'Hallelujah' on that scene (involving Nite Owl and Silk
Spectre II) - it was the version by Allison Crowe, and it was
really beautiful. Too beautiful, as it turned out..." explains the
movie's Director Zack Snyder. In another
interview, Snyder explained that Crowe's recording is "too
romantic" and "too sexy" for the scene which is meant to come
across as ironic and "ridiculous".

Some of the most artistically and commercially successful cover
songs in Crowe's recorded and published repertoire include:

In addition to these prominent examples of studio and live tracks
there are numerous other cover songs
which have been performed by Allison Crowe. Only those
interpretations which have been officially released on recordings
are noted here.